The BEST episodes of Expedition Unknown
Every episode of Expedition Unknown ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Expedition Unknown!
Expedition Unknown chronicles the adventures of Josh Gates as he investigates iconic mysteries across the globe. Gates begins by interviewing key eyewitnesses and uncovering recent developments in the story, then springboards into a fully immersive exploration. This authentic, roughshod adventure leads Gates closer to the truth behind these unanswered global enigmas, such as the disappearance of Amelia Earhart’s plane. Josh Gates is an adventurer and avid explorer with a unique brand of humor and passion for off-the-map excursions.
#1 - The Hunt for the Golden Owl
Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/29/2019
Josh Gates stalks prey that has eluded capture for 25 years, the Golden Owl. A book of riddles gives cryptic clues to where the Owl statuette, worth half a million dollars, is hidden. Josh joins treasure hunters using new leads to chase the fortune.
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#2 - Cracking The Secret
Season 7 - Episode 9 - Aired 10/2/2019
Josh Gates is on a nation-wide treasure hunt to solve a mystery no one has cracked for 40 years: The Secret. Josh travels coast-to-coast and back in time using cutting edge augmented reality and tapping into a network of obsessed Secret detectives.
Watch Now:Amazon
#3 - Great Women of Ancient Egypt
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/7/2018
Josh Gates strives to uncover the buried secrets of three of the most powerful and elusive women in ancient Egypt -- Hatshepsut, Nefertiti and Cleopatra; a facial reconstruction project is commissioned to reveal the face of King Tut's mother.
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#4 - Yamashita's Gold
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/10/2016
Josh travels to the Philippines searching for Yamashita's Gold, a treasure that has been hidden since World War II. When the cave Josh explores quickly fills with water, will he escape with a piece of history before he's trapped?
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#7 - Alexander's Lost Tomb
Season 13 - Episode 2 - Aired 6/26/2024
Spanning Europe and Africa, Josh's chase for Alexander's remains and fortune ramps up. Clues mount in a flooded ruin beneath Alexandria, Egypt. Later, Josh gathers shocking evidence Alexander's body may actually lie in Venice's St. Mark's Cathedral.
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#9 - Great Lakes' Vanished Warships
Season 11 - Episode 5 - Aired 6/21/2023
Diving into Lake Superior, Josh has brand-new intel that may finally solve a 100-year-old mystery: the resting place of two WW1 minesweepers; on their way to combat German mines in the Atlantic, the warships sank and took the lives of 79 sailors.
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#10 - Sharks Vs. Nazis In Paradise
Season 13 - Episode 4 - Aired 7/10/2024
In this episode, Josh Gates explores the remains of an American ship sunk by a Nazi U-boat during WWII. The quest takes a thrilling turn as he teams up with shark expert Tristan Guttridge, who introduces a groundbreaking approach: using sharks as underwater spies to uncover the wreck. This innovative strategy promises to shed new light on the shipwreck and the events surrounding its demise decades ago.
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#11 - Finding the Lost Pilots of WW2
Season 12 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/22/2023
Josh dives deep into the Navy's heroic Pearl Harbor counterattack, uncovering an eyewitness who shares vivid details of American soldiers' executions. New intel leads to a discovery that changes history -- the first US plane ever found from this battle.
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#13 - Digging Into D-Day
Season 8 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/5/2020
In a season premiere event, Josh Gates touches down in Normandy to investigate battles on land, air and sea. The expedition reveals a Nazi threat greater than ever imagined, unearthing a massive German bunker complex buried for 75 years.
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#14 - Amelia Earhart
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/8/2015
In the 2-hour season premiere of Expedition Unknown, adventurer Josh Gates hunts down new evidence on the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. He treks to uncharted tribal lands in Papua New Guinea and ends his journey in Fiji, hoping to uncover the pilot’s remains.
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#15 - Treasure of the Pirate Queen
Season 15 - Episode 5 - Aired 7/16/2025
Josh braves the South Carolina swamps to search for the lost treasure of the infamous Anne Bonny. The Pirate Queen used her wits, beauty and daring to steal millions in booty; and while recovering coins, Josh may have unearthed Anne's secret trading post.
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#17 - Hitler's Amerikabomber
Season 15 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/18/2025
Josh hunts for the truth about the Third Reich's Amerikabomber, a warplane designed to obliterate New York City; ruins of a mysterious Nazi underground city and long-lost weapons factories provide clues about Hitler's dream-killing machine.
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#18 - Lost Spanish Fortune, Found!
Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 6/14/2017
Josh Gates travels the coast of Florida and to the newly opened country of Cuba in search of sunken treasure from a fleet of Spanish ships sunk in 1715. The hunt takes him deep into the Atlantic and into the previously sealed National Archives of Cuba.
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#19 - Lost Tomb of the Viking King
Season 12 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/27/2023
Josh chases the treasure of legendary Viking Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson. The discovery of a mysterious gold artifact sends Josh on a journey through Scandinavia and into remote northern European forests to uncover Bluetooth's tomb and fortune.
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#20 - Finding World War II's Lost Prisoners
Season 17 - Episode 2 - Aired 7/1/2026
A deep-water dive leads to the historic discovery of a lost WWII hell ship, where an estimated 1,000 soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice. Josh assists a U.S. Department of Defense mission, recovering potential remains of American POWs.
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#21 - Plummer's Gold
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/2/2016
Josh Gates heads to Montana, the Gold Rush territory to search for the missing fortune of notorious Old West sheriff, Henry Plummer.
#22 - Hunt for World War II Hellships
Season 17 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/24/2026
Josh searches for more than 1,000 POWs lost in the Pacific Theater. He dives to find lost Allied soldiers on the Hofuku Maru, a notorious Japanese Hellship. Then, Josh receives access to join a U.S. Department of Defense recovery mission.
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#23 - Cambodia's Stolen Monuments
Season 11 - Episode 8 - Aired 7/12/2023
A clandestine meeting with a Cambodian looter puts Josh on the trail of multi-million-dollar stolen monuments; Josh dives into a murky moat, where he unearths a priceless lost statue and a missing piece of a national treasure.
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#24 - The Secret
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/17/2018
Josh travels all over the US to find the treasures featured in The Secret, a cryptic book published in the 1980s. He meets with members of the book's cult following, who each think they're on the verge of finding one of the 10 remaining treasures.
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